One more day. Less than 24 hours from now, I’ll be running my first marathon of the year: the Van Moer Marathon in Kruibeke in Belgium.
I wanted to write that I’ll be pinning on my first bib number of the year, but that’s technically not true. Kruibeke will be my second race of the season—although it feels like race number one… and even that might not be entirely true.
Okay, I think this is getting complicated.
Negative or Positive Split?
As you know, I started the year with the Groet uit Schoorl run, but I ran that one alongside Paul Waye—the bin guy—to film him. So I don’t really count that as racing. Although the bib number does hang on my wall.
The Van Moer Marathon in Kruibeke will be race number two, but again, I’m not racing it. I see this marathon more as a test for Enschede, where I want to run a new personal best. I haven’t made up my mind yet on how to test myself. I’ve got four scenarios in mind: a negative split, a positive split, 10 km easy / 10 hard / 10 easy / 10 hard, or eight times 5 km alternating between marathon pace and easy pace.
I’m writing this while having breakfast. As soon as I’ve digested, I’ll go for a shake-out run and see how my legs are feeling. They’re the ones who will decide which scenario I pick. If it’s up to my mind, I’m going for a negative split.
Personal Best attempt: Enschede Marathon
In all cases, I want to run half the distance at the marathon pace I have in mind for the Enschede Marathon, and the other half at an easy pace. The time I’m hoping to run in Enschede is 3 hours and 44 minutes. That translates to 5:19 per kilometre.
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If I run the first half at 6:00 per kilometre and the second half at 5:19, I should end up just inside four hours: 3:58:47. That’s still faster than my 21-year-old self in 1995—so it would be my second-fastest marathon. Not bad for a test.
Two weeks ago I ran my first 35 kilometres of the year. Same approach: starting out slow, finishing fast—fast for me. The only thing I hope will be different tomorrow is the number of emergency toilet stops. On my 35k run, I had two. I’m hoping for none this time. So: no sushi tonight.
Nervous
I have to admit I’m a bit nervous. It feels like a long time ago I ran this far—May last year, to be precise. But that’s the race where I got injured. Ever since then, 35 is the furthest I’ve done.
I’ve run quite a few ultras—60, 70, 75 km—but that’s different. They hurt as well, just in another way. When I ran my personal best in Rotterdam (3:46:47), I’d done the Chianti Ultra the month before: 75 kilometres, 3,000 metres of elevation, in 11 hours and 50 seconds. The endurance to run for a long time was there—and yet I still struggled in the final kilometres in Rotterdam. Sub-3:45 was my goal. I failed.
Well… I half failed.
I had two goals that race. First—and most important—beating my 23-year-old self, who finished in 4:05. Proving that I could be faster at the age of 53. I succeeded. My second goal was breaking that 3:45 barrier, but my legs didn’t want to run anymore in the last seven kilometres. Running slow for a long time and running relatively fast for a shorter time are two different things. Hence the nervousness for tomorrow.
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Reality check
But whatever the outcome, I’ll see it as a test: to find out where I stand, how much work I still have to do for the Enschede Marathon, and what kind of work that should be. Marathon pace, I hope—or maybe more speed work.
For now, it’s time to put on my shoes and head out the door. The sun’s out. Perfect running weather.
I’ll keep you posted.
And as always, Keep on Running.
John
